Fumigating applicator



Sept. 20., 1927; 1,642,920

K. F. COOPER FUMIGATING APPLICATOR Filed April 6, 1921 KennethEQaa er;

BY W

ATTORNEY Patented Se t. 20, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,642,920 PATENT OFFICE.

KENNETH F. COOPER, OF GREAT NECK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN MIDCOMPANY, 01 NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION" OF MAINE.

FUMIGA'IING Application filed April 6,

This invention relates to an apparatus for applying measured quantitiesof volatile liquid fumigants such as hydrocyanic acid 7 and has for itsobject to accomplish these results in a simpler and more inexpensivemanner than those heretofore proposed.

With these and other objects inview, the invention consists in the noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts consti- 10 tuting theapparatus, all as will be more fully hereinafter disclosed andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In order that the invention may be more clearly -understood,'it is said:Fumigants have been used in the past for the extermination of rats,insects, scale and other pests found in buildings, vessels. anduponvarioustrees and lants. Some of the most, valuable of these umigantsare liquids under ordina atmospheric conditions and must be volatilizedat the time of the application. Various methods and types of apparatushave been employed in the application of such volatile liquid fumigants,but. none of these "are entirely satisfactory for certain specificpurposes.

For example, ships, warehouses and grain elevators, quickly becomeinfested with rats and vermin. The volume of .space to befumigated insuch structures is very, large and consequently there is a very largedosage of fumigant required at an application. Accordingly, one oftheobjects of my.inven-' tion is to provide an apparatus suitable for thetransportation and ap lication of relatively large quantities o volatileliquid fumigant used in this classof work, as well asto efficientlyapply'thesame.

For example, hydroc anic acid-is a repre- 40 sentative of the class 0volatile liquid fumigants I desire to apply inthe fumigation of suchstructures as, those enumerated above, and the older method of aplication consisted in distributin throng out the ship or warehouse, wooenke s or other suitable containers partly jfille with sulphuric acid ofdesired strength. Muslin sacks containing the desired quantity of sodiumcyanide were dropped into the acld containers and the space to befumigated was sealed. The action of the sulphuric acld upon the cyanideof sodium liberated hydrocyanic acid which was evolved in the form' of agas.

Considerable heat is developed'when such "tuted an additional 0ArrLIcA'roR.

1921. Serial No. 458,951.

a reaction takes place and this causes some of the water in thecontainer to be evolved assteam. The hot mixture of hydrocyanic acldgas-and steam thus produced tends to rise to the highest oint of theenclosure and, therefore, it is di cult to obtain a uniform andsuflicient concentration. of the fumigant 1n all parts of the enclosureunder the old practice. v Also in such prior practice the extremelyrapid evolution of the hydrocyanic acid frequently causes a boiling overof the contents of -the wooden keg, with the result that the acid liquidcomes in contact with the structure or the contents of the object beingfumi- 7 gated. As an excess of sulphuric acid is always used, theextremely corrosive action of this acid upon the materials with which itmay come in contact often resulted in considerable damage to thestructure itself, or to its contents, such, for example, as avessel orits cargo. Furthermore, in such prior procedure, the evolution ofhydrocyanicacid lgas was not complete, so an excess of cyanide ad to beused above that actually required, resultin in the waste of the valuablefumigant. or was the quantity of gas'evolved uniform for each batch, itbeing the result of a complex chemical reaction.

In the foregoing method it was further- 35 more necessary to umaseparate keg1 for each compartment. These kegs, to at er with thecontainers in which the sulp uric acid is carried, as well as thecyanide itself, had to be hoisted up "to the decks of vessels,,oftenfrom 20 to 40 feet above the level of the dock, or to even moreinaccessible places in grain elevators. And since the handling ofsulphuric acid is 'a well known'source of danger to operators whenfumigation is carried out'by this method, inasmuch asthis material isusually transported in stone or glass containers, which are easilybroken; these features of the prior procedure constijection. -After theperiod required for fumigation had elapsed in the PI'IOI methods thegenerating containers, with their content of unreacted sulphuric acid,had to be recovered and the contents disposed. of, which was usuallycarried out by pouring the liquid-to I waste. 3

Durin this operation .a certain quantity of the acid was notinfrequently spilled, 'thus ruining-the paint work and in some cases themetal or wood, of which the fumigated structure is constructed, to saynothing of the contents of the same.

It is true that numerous types of apparatus for the application ofliqu1d hydrocyanlc acid are in use, as for example, that disclosed inthe Dingle Patent No. 1,304,746, but these types are especially designedand adapted for accurate dosage of restricted spaces such as the tentsenclosing orange trees. In the case of enclosures of much largervolumes, repeated applications of the fumi ant are necessary with suchappllcators in order to obtain a proper dosage, which 18 a seriousob'ection owing to the time consumed and t e danger to the operators.

My new a paratus, the subject of the 1nvention, is esi ed, on the otherhand, to provide a suite le receptacle for'handhng relatively largequantities of liquid, and at the same time and without a transfer of thesame to permit an application thereof in sufficiently large and accuratedosages in large structures as to thoroughly fumigate the latter, all ofwhich will be evident from the accompanying description and drawingforming a part of this specification in which:

Fi re 1 is a diagrammatic side elevationa view of an applicator made inaccordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a central vertical sectional view of a ortion of the partsshown in Figure 1; and

Figure 3is a fragmentary elevational view 1 of the shipping tank orcontainer illustrated in Figure 1, showing the shipping plugs in placein the filling and discharge openings therein.

1 represents a container adapted to transport liquid hydrocyanic ,acidin sufiicient quantities for the purpose in hand, which container isprovided with the openings 2 and 3 used during the filling of thecontainer, and closed by suitable plugs 25 and 26 during transportation.When the liquid fumigant is to be applied, the plug 25 in openlng 3 isremoved and the threaded connection 4, through which passes the tube 6,is inserted therein and screwed ti ht. The tube 6 passes through astufiing ox 5 attached to a threaded connection in plug 4, whichstuffing box is adjusted to permit ready movement up and down of thetube 6. A second tube 8 is connected to the said tube 6 by means of anintervening angle valve 7, and suitable graduation marks 16 are lplacedon the tube 6. A bracket 9 is firmly eld between the shoulder 27 of thethreaded connection 4 and the face of the boss surrounding the opening3, and acts as a guide for tube 8, which passes through an opening 17inthe bracket 9. The tube 8 is held in any predetermined position by meansof clamp 18, and is connected as by an angle union 10 to a flexiblemetallic hose '11, carrying an .in the container 1.

2 when the shipping plug 26 is removed.

The said plug 28 is provided with a smooth axial bore through whichpasses a 'thimble member 29, enlarged at one end to provide a shoulder30, andhaving its other end threaded as at 31 to engage the threads orthe valve 32, as will be clear from Figure 2. A suitable washer member33 may be interposed between the valve 32 and the threaded plug 28, asshown.

In operation, the tank 1 is filled with a definite quantit of liquidhydrocyanic acid, and is delivere to the point of use, whereupon theplug 25 closing the opening 3 is removed and the threaded connection'4is screwed home. V By grasping tube 8 and pulling upward on the same,the combined siphon shaped tube and flexible hose is raised to a pointat which the bottom 20 of tube 6 is positioned above the level of theliquid closed, the plug 26 is then removed from opening 2 in thecontainer and the combination valve and union 1'4 screwed firmly intothe opening 2. Nozzle 12 is inserted into an opening into the space,hold or compartment to be fumigated, together with such part of tube 11as is necessary. The volume of the enclosure having been determined, thesiphon tube 6 is pushed down until its lower point is below the amountof liquid fumigant required for the enclosed space as indlcated by thescale markings on tube 6, whereupon the valve 14 is opened and the aircompressor, is operated by means of handle 19.

After several strokes have been taken, for the purpose of building uppressure in container 1 the valve 7 is opened and the operation of theair pump 13 by means of handle 19 continued untilthe predeterminedquantity of liquid has been displaced from the container, 1. Thecompressed air forces the liquid above the bottom point 20 of-tube 6,through said tube 6, valve 7, tube'8, angle union 10, flexible tube 11,and through the atomizing nozzle 12 into the enclosure to be fumigated.After the operation is completed, the valves 7 and 14 are closed and theapparatus transferred to such other enclosures as it may be necessary tofumigate.

It will thus be seen that the siphon com prising the rigidly connectedtubes 6 and 8 constitutes an adjustable delivery means of which one leg6 enters the receptacle through the stufling box 5 and the other le 8 ofwhich passes through the opening 1% The valve 7 is now in the bracket 9in order that said leg 8 may beguided and said leg 6 may be steadipdwhen siphon, is adjusted up and Own.

. When liquid hydrocyanic acid is sprayedinto enclosures it vola-tilizesalmost instantly and during volatilization, absorbs a .con-

siderable quantity of heat. This causes a lowering of the temperatureand the mixture ofvaporized hydrocyanic acid and air first tends todescend and penetrate the lowest parts of the enclosure, such ascrevices and pockets, and later diffuses throughout the Whole enclosure.,Vermin are particularly found in the lower parts of theenclosure atwhich. points the vaporized liquid hydrocyanic acid first accumulates atthe greatest concentration and thereby much more effective results areobtained with this apparatus than has been the case heretofore, becausesuch vermin are killed quickly before-migrating to more inaccessibleplaces. Among secondary advantages in this 1n-- vent-ion are thefollowing: The structure, cargo and equipment in the enclosurebeingfumigated cannot be damaged through sulphuric acid as in theoldermethod. The

eqpipment is portable and easily handled: T

sary to transfer the very poisonous and vol-' atileliquids to theapplicator while operating the same. inasmuch as I dlscharge a measureddosage from a container, in whichsaid liquid is transported. Mea'sur1ngin absolute my -new device is accomplished b displacement of the desiredportlon of the liquid by air under pressure and does not depend in anyway upon tightness of packing, or valves, for its accuracy. ,A greatsaving of time is effected, inasmuch as it is not necessary to transferand move to the point of application a large quantity of equipment ashas been the case,heretofore.

The flexible tubing attached to this equipment permits the fumigationof,peculiarly situated places into which it would be extremely diflicultto place enerators such as pots which are in use at t e present time.

Now it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the design ofthe various parts and combinations of parts constituting this inventionmay be rearranged and substituted without materially departing from thespirit of this invention, as for instance the graduations 16 on tube /6may be placed upon tube 8 or *on a "guide attached to threadedconnection 4. It. is also obvious, that this-apparatus may be used forother substantially as described.

purposes and for the ap lication of a variety of other fumigants t anthe ones herein specifically mentioned, and I do not wish to be limitedto the above disclosures, except as may be required by the claims.

, What I claim is:

1. Ina spraying device for liquid hydroeyanic acid the combination of acontainer in which said acid may be shipped, provided w th a pair oforifices adapted to be closed by removable shipping plugs; asubstantially U -shaped tube having a leg adapted to enter saidcontainer through one of said orifices when said shipping plug isremoved therefrom; means adapted to maintain a liquid tight jointbetween said orifice and tube; a

bracket associated with said last named means adapted to engage theother leg of said tube; means adapted to coact with said last named legand said bracket to maintain said tube in a predetermined osition; and

means adapted to be connecte to the other of said orifices when itsshippin plug is removed, to expel acid from sai container,

2. In a spraying device. for liquid hydrocyanic acid the-combination ofa container in which said acid may be shipped, rovided' with a pair oforifices adapted to closed by removable shipping lugs; an ad'ustableU-shaped tube provided with a valve and having a leg adapted to entersaid container through one of said orifices when its shipping plug isremoved therefrom; means as sociated with said leg-adapted to indicateits position rel tive to said container; means adapted to maintain aliquid tight joint between said orifice and leg; a bracket associatedwith said last named means adapted to engage the other leg of said tube;means comprising a clamp adapted to coact with said last named leg andsaid bracket to main-' tain said tube in apredetermin'ed position; andpressuremeans adapted to be connected to the other of said orificeswhenits shi ping plug is removed to expel acid from sai container,substantially as described.

"3. In. a spraying device for liquid hydro cyanic acid the combinationof a container in which said acid may be shipped, 'rovided with a pairof orifices adapte to with a valve and b bl h 1 d i l I y remova e sippin ugs; an a justa e .U-shaped tube provided having a leg adapted toenter said container through one of said orifices when its-shipping.plug is removed therefrom; means assotween said orifice and leg; abracket associ-- ated withsaid last named means adapted to containermeans engage the other leg of said tube; means comprising a clamp adated to coact with said last amed leg and said bracket to maintain sattube a predetermined position;

and fluid pressure means adapted to be connected to the other of saidorifices when its shipping plug is removed, substantially as described.Y

4. In a spraying device for liquid hydrocyanic acid the combination of acontainer in which said acid ma be shipped and provided with a pair 0;orifices adapted to be closed by shipping plugs; a pair of applicatorplugs fitting said orifices liquid tight, one of said last named plugsbein provided with a shoulder near one end anti a stufiin box near itsother end, and the other of sai noeaoao last named lugs havin raduatedtu assing ti ox and adjustable up and down in said container a valvedconnection provided with a pipe extension having a smooth exteriorfitting said bore a bracket provided with an opening held by saidshoulder against said container; a delivery tube joined to saidgraduated tube and held in said opening;

and air pressure means joined to said "valved connection, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I aflix m signature. KENNETH F. OOPER.

a smooth bore; a. rough said stufiing

